Weather interrupts search for missing snowmobilers

High winds and frigid temperatures halted the search for three men who are missing and presumed dead after game wardens said their sleds went into open water on Rangeley Lake two days ago.

This comes just a day after wardens recovered the body of Dawn Newell, 45, of Durham, from the same lake.

She was riding with her teenage son, who ditched his sled as he watched as his mother went in. Authorities said he was able to crawl to safety and call 911.

Wardens said Newell and her son had met a group of three men on the trail who were trying to find their way back to Sugarloaf. That was Sunday around 7 p.m.

"Once they broke out past the cove, they split and went different ways. Unfortunately, both different parities entered the water from the evidence we found," said Lt. Kevin Adam with the Maine Warden Service.

Search crews found three helmets they believe belonged to the men. The men have been identified as cousins Kenneth and Glenn Henderson and John Spencer.

The men posted a photo on Facebook hours before they were reported missing telling friends one of their sleds had broken down.

"Kenny called his wife saying, 'We're lost, but we think we know where to go,'" said Missy Morgan, a friend of the men.

Morgan said the men are racers at Oxford Plains Speedway. Not knowing what to do with her grief, she has organized a candlelight vigil in the raceway parking lot for Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"It's awful. Definitely not a way to start 2013. But we can all come here tomorrow and do the best that we can for the families, even if this is all we can do," said Morgan about the vigil.

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